Review: ‘Teen Titans’

An attempt to adapt the Cartoon Network show into a fighting game, "Teen Titans" should have been a slam-dunk. Based on characters from the DC comic, the TV show is colorful, action-packed, and, most of all, fun. Many things went wrong, however, in translating that show into this game.

An attempt to adapt the Cartoon Network show into a fighting game, “Teen Titans” should have been a slam-dunk. Based on characters from the DC comic, the TV show is colorful, action-packed, and, most of all, fun. Many things went wrong, however, in translating that show into this game.

The game has two options: Story Mode and Master of Games. Story Mode throws our heroes into a videogame trap, and they (surprise, surprise) have to battle past countless henchmen and several bosses to get out. Up to four people can play cooperatively. Unfortunately, the “story” is more or less just a line or two of throwaway dialogue between near-identical fight sequences, and the vocal presence of the show’s actors adds little to the mix. Master of Games is the arena fighting portion of the game, and it’s a sore disappointment.

This may be a budget title at $19.99, but it’s poorly put together at any price. The animation is mediocre, and the fighting is ridiculously repetitive and unimaginative. Even worse, the camera angles are terrible, either so far away you can barely make out the character you’re playing, or placed around a corner so you can’t see anything at all. Also, the game stops to load constantly, which is the final irritant.

In a time when decent fighting games are flooding the market, it’s inexcusable to release something this shoddy. Rabid fans of the show might give this an hour of play, but only the most undemanding of gamers will see this through to its conclusion.

Teen Titans

Production

A THQ presentation of a game developed by Artificial Mind and Movement for PlayStation 2 and GameCube. Reviewed on PlayStation 2.